Nine Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness and wellbeing mean different things to different people. In fact, if you ask people to define wellness you will probably receive a variety of answers. The World Health Organization defines health as, "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Wellness goes beyond physical health to include an individual’s ability to identify and achieve goals, satisfy needs, and the ability to change and cope with the demands of our environment. Wellness is a connection point encompassing many elements that we refer to as “Dimensions of Wellness”.

Wellness is a dynamic concept created to ascertain the conditions that allow humans to flourish. The nine dimensions we focus on in the University of Waterloo Engineering Wellness program are:

Physical Wellness

Wellness in the physical dimension includes the ability and determination to care for one’s physical health, safety, and quality of life by ensuring good nutrition, regular exercise, adequate rest/sleep, effective hygiene, avoiding harmful habits, responsible decision making, adequate self-care, and seeking medical assistance when warranted. This includes the ability to recognize when we are not physically well and take appropriate actions, as well as the understanding of how behaviour relates to maintaining optimum physical wellness.

Physical wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Regular exercise

Nutritious diet/plenty of water

Maintaining healthy sleeping routines

Maintaining personal hygiene

Practicing safe sex

Avoiding harmful habits/substances

Avoiding unnecessary injury

Recognizing and responding to illness and disease

Regular physical checkups

Utilizing safe modes of transportation

Some resources

Looking to enhance your physical wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to physical wellness.

Intellectual Wellness

Wellness in the intellectual dimension is the ability for one to learn, experience, and utilize intellectual capacities through creative and stimulating mental activities with the goal of expanding one’s knowledge and skills. It consists of critical thinking, stimulating curiosity, problem solving, reflection, self-knowledge, and creativity. Further, it includes the ability to recognize biases, helpful and unhelpful patterns of thinking, as well as manage one’s inner dialogue and negative thoughts.

Intellectual wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Having a growth mindset

Creative expression

Short/long-term goals

Ability to think critically

Curiosity

Academic ability and integrity

Determination to master new skills

Having the capacity to ask questions

Willingness to explore new ideas

Time management skills

Some resources

Looking to enhance your intellectual wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to intellectual wellness.

Emotional Wellness

Wellness in the emotional dimension is the ability to recognize, accept, process, and take responsibility for all of one’s feelings, whether negative or positive, and to share feelings of anger, fear, sadness, or stress; hope, joy, love, and happiness in appropriate and productive ways. This includes the ability to manage and shift emotional states, as well as the ability to recognize and consider the feelings of other people and animals, and respond appropriately.

Emotional wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Impulse control

Drive/determination (motivation)

Self-esteem/self-acceptance/self-compassion

Ability to understand, accept, and manage one’s feelings

Ability to express feelings with others

Self-confidence/self-compassion

Ability to trust in ourselves and others

Being optimistic about outcomes

Ability to recognize emotions in others

Humour and play/fun

Some resources

Looking to enhance your emotional wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to emotional wellness.

Relational Wellness

Wellness in the relational dimension is the ability to establish and maintain meaningful connections, networks, relationships, and interactions with other individuals, groups, and communities. Relating well to others both within and outside of the family unit and fostering a genuine connection with those around us. This includes valuing the needs of others, providing support and encouragement, as well as recognizing and appropriately responding to social cues.

Relational wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Communication skills

Capacity for connection/intimacy

Managing interpersonal disputes

Willingness to ask for help

Ability to cultivate and maintain satisfying relationships

Establishing a support network

Caring for/encouraging others

Being a strong team player or group partner

Sharing appropriately

Recognizing social cues/respectful behaviour

Some resources

Looking to enhance your relational wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to relational wellness.

Vocational Wellness

Vocational wellness is the ability to balance life with a satisfying vocation that aligns with our skills and values, and challenges us in an effort to recognize the importance of satisfaction, enrichment, and meaning through our work. Our desire to contribute in our careers to enact positive impacts on the organizations we operate within, our colleagues/professional relationships, and to our society. Also includes volunteerism and hobbies/interests to which one dedicates significant time and resources that provide fulfillment, meaning or purpose, but may not provide income.

Vocational wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Education/training

Building relationships with peers/colleagues

Contributing towards goal fulfillment

Exploring opportunities to learn and be challenged

Feeding a sense of purpose and meaning

Enjoying your field of study/career

Volunteerism/social contributions

Feeling a sense of value from instructors/supervisors/managers

Meaningful work/employment

Some resources

Looking to enhance your vocational wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to vocational wellness.

Cultural Wellness

Cultural wellness is the ability to create and maintain a positive, inclusive environment that values inclusivity and mutual benefit. It is also a strong sense of citizenship/belonging and positive contribution to one’s home, community, school, organization, neighbourhood, city, province/state, and country. Cultural wellness encorporates a sense of awareness, understanding, and respect for different cultures, genders, sexual orientations, income/education levels, and other aspects of diversity.

Similarly, it includes awareness and understanding of, as well as respect, for one’s own cultural background. Cultural wellness also includes avoiding damaging biases and stereotypes, ensuring a positive, inclusive, equitable environment, and standing-up for others in cases of injustice, as well as respect for, and adherence to, laws and regulations.

Cultural wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Strong citizenship (neighbourhood, city, province/state, country)

Positive, inclusive, equitable environment

Understanding and appreciation of edict, cultures, traditions, and diversity (your own and others)

Establishing relationships with those of different backgrounds (inclusivity)

Spiritual Wellness

Spiritual wellness is the ability to establish peace and harmony in our lives through a guiding set of beliefs, faith, values, ethics, or moral principles that provide meaning, direction, and purpose. It is also a search for meaning and purpose in human existence leading one to strive for a state of harmony with oneself and others while working to balance inner needs with the rest of the world. Spiritual wellness includes the development of characteristics such as, compassion, forgiveness, altruism, optimism, and happiness. It is also a sense of belonging to something greater than oneself, and may also include formal or informal spiritual practice, religion or faith.

Spiritual wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Guiding sense of purpose and meaning

Alignment with one’s own values/moral principles

Belonging to something greater than oneself

Spiritual practice/faith

Capacity for forgiveness

Optimism and hopefulness

Idealism and altruism

Compassion for others regardless of background

Inner harmony, happiness, and peace

Contributing to the greater good

Some resources

Looking to enhance your spiritual wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to spiritual wellness.

Financial Wellness

Financial wellness is the basic understanding of, and ability to function within, one’s economic and tax system. This includes balancing needs and wants in a way that allows for the development of short and long-term financial goals and budgeting skills, as well as the ability to avoid unnecessary debts, pay one’s bills and debts on time, and to live within one’s means. This also includes behaviour choices that ensure adequate income, insurance, health benefit coverage, and investing and saving for future needs. Strong financial wellbeing allows for the capacity and opportunity to make contributions that support others (friends, family/children, and not-for-profit organizations).

Financial wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Managing short/long-term financial goals

Budgeting/cost saving skills

Having a working understanding of finances/taxes

Living within one’s means/adequate income

Avoiding unnecessary debts/paying bills and debts on time

Planning for emergencies (savings fund)/ Retirement planning

Understanding of our own state of wealth

Differentiating between needs and wants

Charitable donations

Adequate insurance coverage/benefit plans

Some resources

Looking to enhance your financial wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to financial wellness.

Environmental Wellness

Environmental wellness is the ability and capacity to live, work, and study in a sanitary, safe environment where clean air and water, quality food, adequate shelter, and personal safety is maintained and encouraged. It focuses on leading a model lifestyle that values the relationship and harmony between the individual, our community, and the environment as a whole. This includes caring for the needs of your home and workspaces, as well as participating in larger global and environmental sustainability initiatives such as reusable mugs and water bottles, recycling, reducing waste, conserving water, compositing, reducing toxic emissions, and environmental clean-up programs.

Environmental wellness includes, but is not limited to:

Sanitary and safe home/work/study space

Maintaining sustainable development

Functional learning space

Community space for social activities and hobbies

Recycling / appropriate waste management

Access to abundant and clean resources (air and water)

Making mindful decisions about pollution and waste

Positive, psychologically safe space

Some resources

Looking to enhance your environmental Wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to environmental Wellness.

Wellness can be seen as a balancing act between the demands and challenges from our environment and our resources, or capacity, to deal with those challenges.

When the demands and challenges that we are facing become more cumbersome than our resources, skills, or capacity to cope with them, our wellness begins to suffer.

Interested in knowing more about wellness?

Looking to enhance your knowledge about wellness? Below are some resources both on and off campus, as well as general information related to wellbeing.

*Please note: Any resources displayed on this page are not comprehensive and do not indicate an endorsement by the ENGWellness Program. You should always do your own research before using any resource. By accessing any of the resources on this page, you understand that the ENGWellness Program is not liable for any actions or the actions of representatives of services on this list. The listed resources, while helpful, are not a replacement for professional support.